The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant botanically known as Hydrangea paniculata and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Little Ema’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Kanuma-shi, Japan during July 2007. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Hydrangea cultivars that are floriferous with a compact growth habit.
The new Hydrangea cultivar was the result of a self-pollination of the proprietary Hydrangea paniculata breeding selection coded HNW, not patented, characterized by its white-colored inflorescences, light green-colored foliage, low growth vigor, and compact, upright-mounded growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated self-pollination during July 2010 in a controlled environment in Kanuma-shi, Japan.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by softwood cuttings since July 2010 in Kanuma-shi, Japan and Hillegom, The Netherlands has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.